


Alive

by starboyshiro



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Kuro needs a hug, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-02
Updated: 2018-08-02
Packaged: 2019-06-20 11:03:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15532821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starboyshiro/pseuds/starboyshiro
Summary: Kuro wants to know what its like to feel human. Lance tries to help him the best be can.





	Alive

**Author's Note:**

> This piece was written for the free 'Sharpshooter' zine. I hope y'all enjoy! Thank you to all of my lovely betas!!

Lance hovers over the Galran clone, the barrel of his blaster pressed against his already wounded chest. He tries not to let the look of absolute fear on the oh so familiar face get to him. It's probably all fake anyway. Are clones even supposed to have feelings?

“Please,” the clone mumbles, his voice sounds similar to Shiro’s but there’s something about it that’s so off, so fake. 

Lance should just shoot him already. There’s no point in drawing this out, no point in listening to what he has to say. 

“Please,” he mumbles again, looking up at Lance with striking glowy golden eyes, “spare me.” 

“Why should I? You’re just like the rest of them.” He pushes the gun harder against the clone’s chest, forcing the air out of his lungs. 

“I’m not,” he struggles to catch his breath, “I’m not like the rest of them. They left me here to fucking die. Your  _ ahh—”  _ he gets cut off as Lance pushes down harder, “Please… your coalition didn’t even do this to me.  _ They _ did this to me,  _ they _ want me dead. I’m useless to them so they tossed me out like a used tissue.” 

The red paladin scowls down at the clone, he doesn’t want to believe him but it does sound like something the Galra would do. He sighs, closing his eyes as he thinks. He looks back at him, “If I leave you out here you’ll die anyway.” 

The clone hums, nodding his head in agreement. 

“Would you even have anywhere to go if I did spare you?” 

“No, you’re right, I’ll just die anyway. You might as well get it over with.” 

Lance squeezes his eyes shut, going over all of the possibilities in his head. He doesn’t have it in him to simply leave someone to die.

_ Fuck.  _

“Get up,” Lance demands while standing up himself. He should have let one of the others take care of this, they wouldn’t bring home the stray like he’s about to. 

“I can’t.” 

Lance whips his head back around, folding his arms over his chest and scoffing, “What do you mean you can’t?” 

“My leg. I  _ can’t. _ ” 

_ Oh for fuck’s sake.  _

Groaning, Lance helps the clone up onto his feet, its a struggle but they manage. The pitiful sounds the clone is making pulls at his heartstrings. He doesn’t understand how the Galra could do this to someone  _ they _ created and then just leave him out to die all alone. He had always known they were cruel but he held out some sort of hope for the rest of them after meeting the members of the Blade of Marmora. 

The clone stops about halfway to the red lion. He looks so weak, like some kind of wounded animal, fighting for his life. Lance just wishes he didn’t feel for him so much. 

“Do you need me to carry you?” 

“ _ No _ ,” he snaps, “I can make it.” 

“Seriously, dude, I’m a paladin of Voltron, I can carry you.” 

The clone sighs and slumps against Lance, no longer protesting. He lets himself be picked up and carried to the lion with more ease than he expected. 

 

—

 

“So, do you have a name?” Lance asks, trying to make conversation as the pair walks from the red lion’s hanger to the medbay. 

“No, they never bothered to give me one, just a number. I gave myself one a while ago. It felt weird being nameless… so I started to call myself Kuro.” 

“Oh… well, I’m Lance.” 

“I know. I— _ ah, _ I have some of Shiro’s memories, I know about you.” The clo—  _ Kuro, _ is still struggling to walk, he’s struggling to even breathe.  

“Now you finally get the real deal. Just hang in there, yeah? We’ll get you into a pod and back to yourself in no time.” 

_ I just hope your normal self isn’t dangerous,  _ Lance thinks to himself as they enter the medbay. Thankfully everyone else is still out on various missions, he knows he’ll get chewed out for this later but for now, he’s focused on making sure the other is able to heal. 

Lance helps Kuro into the standard suit for the pod and then into the pod, the poor man looks so scared and confused it hurts Lance’s being. 

“I’ll try to be right here when you’re ready to come out.” 

“What about the others?” 

“I’ll talk to them, don’t worry about it.” 

Kuro nods, swallowing hard as he allows Lance to shut the door. 

Lance chews on his bottom lip, watching Kuro for a few seconds. He should probably find the poor guy some clothes to wear for when he wakes up… he should also figure out how he’s going to tell the others he brought home Shiro’s clone. 

 

— 

 

“You did  _ what _ !?” 

The others were bound to find out, he was just hoping Shiro wouldn’t have been the first one to walk into the medbay and find his clone in a healing pod. 

“Shiro, I know it sounds bad but I couldn’t just leave him there!” 

“You very well could’ve! You’re putting the entire team in danger now because you decided to bring him here.” 

Lance sighs, “I know, Shiro. I just… I couldn’t leave him out there after the Galra did. I don’t think he’s like them.” 

“He could still be dangerous.” 

“I know, but I really think if he wanted to do anything he would have done it while we were alone. He was hurt but he could have easily taken me down, Shiro.” 

“Maybe he’s waiting until he’s healed. He’ll be strong enough to take us all down then.” Shiro folds his arms over his chest, glaring at his double within the pod. 

“So we’ll put in him in restraints as soon as he comes out.” 

“Hopefully it’ll be easy enough to restrain him as soon he wakes. We don’t know what he’s capable of, Lance.” 

Lance nods, gaze falling over Kuro’s sleeping form. He doesn’t look dangerous, he looks exactly like Shiro and Shiro’s a big softy. Hopefully, that transferred to his clone. 

 

— 

 

The door of the pod slides open with a hiss. Kuro barely has time to open his eyes and adjust to the lighting before Hunk and Shiro restrain him. They handcuff him and place a band around his arm to prevent it from activating. He doesn’t protest much, only groaning out in confused discomfort. 

“Seriously Lance, why would you let him in here? He’s Galran,” Hunk groans, pushing the clone down onto the floor. 

“ _ He _ has a name.”

“What, are you on his side now?” The larger man scoffs, folding his arms over his chest. 

“Not exactly, but he deserves to have a chance to be heard. If he wanted to harm any of us he very easily could’ve taken me out when we were alone.” 

“I don't want to hurt any of you,” Kuro finally speaks up. 

“We're supposed to just believe you?”

“We should at least give him a chance, Hunk.”

“ _ Fine _ . Keep him in your room or something, I don’t want him near me. Seeing Shiro’s face on something so evil is unsettling,” Hunk scoffs, walking out of the room to leave Kuro, Lance, and Shiro alone. 

“Um,” Shiro starts, trying to break the tension between them. “I think everyone just needs some time to cool off. I’m going to uncuff him and I want you to take him to your room. I’ll bring you food around dinner time, I don’t think it’d be a very good idea to have him sit with the rest of the team right now. Just… be careful, Lance.” 

Lance nods, surprised at how corporative Shiro is being. He had originally thought he would have been the one most against Kuro staying. 

Shiro pulls Kuro up off the ground, taking the cuffs off but leaving the band around his arm. 

“Prove yourself and I’ll take this off you,” he says to Kuro, hoping he’ll actually be able to take it off and not have anyone get hurt in the process. 

Kuro doesn’t say anything, only nodding as he walks over to stand next to Lance. He relaxes slightly knowing that Lance is on his side at least a little bit. 

“Let's go, Kuro,” Lance sighs, grabbing onto his arm to lead him to his room. “I guess we’ll have to share my bed or something. I don’t really know how this is going to work.” 

“I can sleep on the floor, I’m used to it.” 

Lance turns to Kuro with one of the saddest looks on his face. 

“I am not going to make you sleep on the floor. I’m a paladin of Voltron, I’m supposed to help people, not put them out.” He shakes his head and opens the door to his room, the things they do to their own creations is absurdly cruel. 

“You’re too kind for your own good,” Kuro sighs, slipping past Lance into his room. 

Lance shrugs, shutting his door and then sitting down on his bed. 

Kuro stands awkwardly in the middle of the room, not really knowing what to do with himself. Everything is so unfamiliar but it all seems very inviting. Lance has taken the time to decorate the room, placing pictures from random planets on the walls. He even has fairy lights strung up above his bed for an added glow that Kuro finds rather calming. His desk is a little messy, littered with beauty products, odd plants, and various souvenirs from all of the planets they have visited during their time in space. 

“Kuro, I won’t bite, you can sit.” 

He nods, sitting down as far away from Lance as he can, far too worried about overstepping and getting kicked out. 

“Relax a little, yeah? Why don’t you tell me about yourself? Or I can tell you about myself if you want.” 

“There’s not much to know about me. I’m just a clone of your leader. Not anything special. I wasn’t meant to be anything more.  _ Just _ his clone.  _ Just _ something made to cause pain and bring destruction. I’m… I’m tired of being  _ just _ his clone.” 

Lance frowns, his heart breaking for Kuro, “I’m sure you have more to you than being a clone. You have your own personality, your own thoughts, no one can take that away from you.” 

Kuro shrugs, “I just want to be treated like a human. I’ve spent all of my life locked up, being used like I’m some kind of animal.” He looks over to finally meet Lance’s cool gaze, he didn’t get a chance to really look at his eyes earlier. They’re much prettier than he could’ve ever imagined; a deep blue, shining like the ocean.

Lance’s eyebrows furrow together. Leaning closer to Kuro he stares deeper into his eyes. 

“Is there something on my face?” 

“No, your eyes… they stopped glowing.” He scoots closer, staring deeply into Kuro’s eyes. “Now they’re just gold. Like a really pretty gold. Kind of like honey, like the candies I used to make with my grandma. And you have tiny little flecks of slate mixed in, kind of like Shiro’s eyes but it’s really subtle.” Lance seems to be absolutely infatuated by his eyes, placing a hand on his cheek to get a closer look.

Kuro blushes, taken aback by Lance’s close proximity. “Oh, um, they only glow when I’m angry or distressed. I guess I’ve calmed down enough for them to stop.” 

“Does that mean you trust me?” 

“I—uh, I guess it does.” Kuro turns away, no longer wanting to meet Lance’s gaze. He’s not used to trusting people so easily and letting them in. He’s not used to any of this, he’s not used to someone being friendly towards him, someone making sure he has somewhere comfortable to sleep and food to eat. 

“I don’t know if I can trust you completely, yet. I am on your side though, Kuro, I don’t think you want to hurt any of us.” 

Kuro swallows hard, trying to wrap his head around actually having someone on his side. All of his life he’s been so used to being used as a weapon, used for the better of the Galra, used to fuck up Voltron. He’s so tired of it, he just wants to live his life without having to do as everyone else says. 

“You okay?” 

Kuro nods, “Yeah, I’m just not used to all of this… to actually having someone on my side. Thank you, Lance.” 

Lance smiles softly, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. 

“Why don’t we get you cleaned up a little and then you can rest up until Shiro brings us dinner.” 

Kuro nods, liking the idea of being able to have a nice hot shower by himself for the first time in his life.

 

—

 

Kuro sits on Lance’s bed, watching him fold and put away all of his clean laundry. Over the short time Kuro has been in the castle the two have grown a lot closer than either of them had expected. He's picked up on almost all of Lance's little quirks, the way he hides in his hood when he gets upset, the way he stands when he's nervous, the way he acts when he has something to say. Down to the look he gets when he has something to say but hasn’t found the right words yet. However, it seems to be a two-way road, Lance has picked up everything Kuro has been laying down. 

“Lance?”

“Hm?” He turns, holding his last piece of laundry in his hands. “Are you okay? You look like you have something to say.” 

“I just wanted to tell you how much I appreciate all that you have done for me…” Kuro trails off, not making eye contact with Lance, he’s been so kind the entire time he’s been staying with him, it's something Kuro has never known until now. He’s having a hard time adjusting to it. 

“You don’t have to thank me for being a decent human, Kuro.” 

“It's more than that and we both know it. The others won’t spare me a second glance, yet you go out of your way to make sure I’m comfortable. I don’t think you understand how much you mean to me.” Kuro stares at him with an intense gaze that Lance isn’t able to hold.

Looking down Lance smiles softly, “You still don’t have to thank me. I enjoy being your friend.” 

“Lance!” Keith’s voice rings through their ears. “Open the door  _ now _ .” 

“Great,” Lance sighs, crossing the room to open the door. “What do you want, Keith? Aren’t you supposed to be with the Blade?” 

“What the hell are you doing with a Garlan clone into the castle? Is there something wrong with you?” Keith yells in Lance’s face. 

Kuro sits on the edge of the bed, not knowing if he should step in or stay silent. 

“ _ He _ has a name.” 

Keith glances over at the clone with a look of pure and utter disgust. 

Swallowing hard Kuro shifts in his seat. He doesn’t know what to do in this situation. He hasn’t even met the guy before and he’s already judging him. 

“A name, really?” He scoffs, taking a step closer to Kuro. “You gave it a name?” 

Kuro glances over at Lance and then back up at Keith, he’s standing over him, looking down at him like so many have in his past. 

“I named myself.” 

“Well isn’t that cute.” 

“ _ Keith _ . This isn’t necessary. He isn’t hurting anyone.” 

“He very well could! He’s just a stupid fucking clone and you’re letting him live in your room like it’s nothing? Like he doesn’t have the power to fucking kill you just like that?” 

_ That hurt. _ Kuro thinks, looking down at the floor. He would never intentionally hurt anyone, especially Lance. 

“Why the hell are his eyes doing that? Is he trying to pull something?” 

Lance glares at Kuro for a brief moment. “I think you should leave, Keith.” 

“What!? And let him kill you?” 

“Keith! Will you just go and let me handle this?” 

“Whatever, I’ll go.” Keith shakes his head, not leaving without glaring at Kuro one last time. 

“Why don’t you calm the fuck down, Kuro? Now is not the time to get all angry and throw a fit. Do you have any idea how bad this looks for you right now?” 

“Lance, I—” 

“I don’t want to hear it!” Lance snaps, frustratedly running his fingers through his hair. 

Before Kuro can stop himself tears are streaming down his face. This definitely isn’t the first time he has cried but its the first time he’s done it in front of anyone, especially someone he cares for. 

“Kuro…” 

“I’m fine, Lance. You’re right I need to calm down.” 

Frowning, Lance cups his cheek, swiping away his tears. 

“Hey, I didn’t know you were upset. Fuck, I’m so sorry, Kuro, I never meant to make you cry,” he sighs, gently caressing Kuro’s face. He leans closer, pressing a soothing kiss to his forehead. “Fuck, I feel like such a dick. I should have paid more attention to the signs, I know damn well your eyes glow when you’re distressed. I’m just… I’m just an asshole.” 

Kuro nods, closing his eyes, allowing Lance to hold him close and dry his tears. 

“Thank you, Lance.” 

“For what?” 

“Understanding me.” 

Frowning, Lance rubs circles into the clone’s back. He’s not able to wrap his head around how anyone could treat him so poorly. The clone seems to be more human than some of his teammates from time to time. His only desire is to be loved and cared for but the others have their own head too far up their own asses to realize he has no intention to hurt any of them. Lance is determined to give him the love he deserves. 

 

— 

 

Kuro bites down on his lip, hanging up the last bits of decorations in the castle’s great hall. He had been planning something special for the red paladin ever since he found out his birthday was just around the corner. Kuro believes Lance deserves to have an amazing day, he’s helped him discover who he really is. He owes him his life, a nice party is the least he could do. 

“I’m impressed, Kuro, I didn’t think you’d put this much effort into this,” Shiro says, clapping his hand over his clones shoulder. 

“Lance deserves it.” He brushes off Shiro’s comment, far too focused on making sure everything is perfect. He isn’t surprised Shiro is talking to him now, he started to come around more after seeing how much Kuro truly cares for Lance. The rest of the team slowly follows in their leader's steps. 

Shiro hums, “Kuro.” 

He doesn’t acknowledge him, hanging up the last piece of the streamers. 

“Kuro,” Shiro persists. 

Kuro sighs, putting away any unused supplies, “What do you need, Shiro? Can’t you see I’m busy.” 

Rolling his eyes Shiro takes a step closer, grabbing the clone by his arm. 

Exhaling deeply Kuro makes eye contact with Shiro, not sure what to make of the situation. “What are you doing? Did I do something wrong? I’ve been trying my best to behave.” 

“Calm down, you haven’t done anything wrong.”

“Okay… why are you holding onto me then?”

Shiro grins, using his free hand to deactivate and take off the band around Kuro’s arm. 

Kuro doesn’t say anything, he only stares at Shiro, trying to figure out what exactly he had done to gain his trust. 

“I know you have a lot of good in you, Kuro, please don’t make me regret this.” 

“I promise I won’t. Thank you, Shiro.” 

Shiro smirks giving Kuro a slap on the back, “Now, go get your boy.” 

Kuro chuckles but does exactly what Shiro told him to do. He makes his way through the castle halls, knowing he’ll find Lance in their room. First, he stops off in the kitchen, grabbing the ice cream Hunk helped him make earlier in the day. Lance has always enjoyed the chilly treat, being out in space makes it rather difficult to find any. Kuro swallows hard, making his way to the room, nervous as hell to see how Lance reacts to all of this. He musters up all the courage he can and walks into their room, holding onto the tray of ice cream like his life depends on it. 

Lance smiles up at him, eyes widening with wonder. “Whatcha got there?” 

“Ice cream.” Kuro smiles, sitting down next to Lance. 

“Seriously?” Lance perks up, scooting closer to him. “Where did you manage to get ice cream?” 

“Hunk helped me with it. I wanted to make your birthday special.” 

Lance looks up at Kuro like he had just told him the best news of his life. He figured the team wouldn’t do much for his birthday. Fighting in a war is far more important than celebrating. 

“Thank you, Kuro, you didn’t have to do this for me.” Lance spoons some ice cream into his mouth, savoring the sweet flavor

“I did. Once you’re done there’s more I want to show you.” 

“Kuro, you really didn’t need to do anything for me.” 

“I did though. You mean a lot to me, Lance, you deserve to have a perfect day.” 

Lance grins, resting his head against his shoulder, “You’re sweeter than this ice cream.” 

Kuro smiles, wrapping his arm around Lance. The two sit in silence as Lance finishes up the last bit of his ice cream, he savors it for as long as he can. Kuro takes Lance’s hand once he’s down, leading him out of their room and to the great hall. 

The look on Lance’s face is absolutely priceless. Gathered into the great hall are all of the friends they’ve made along the way. Great friends are paired with great food (at least Kuro hopes it’s great) and soft background music.

“You did all this?” Lance asks, turning to Kuro, his eyes beginning to sparkle with tears. 

Kuro nods, pulling Lance into a warm hug. The way he makes him feel is unexplainable, all he knows is he wants to make sure he’s happy no matter what. 

Lance pulls out of the warm embrace, pressing a quick kiss to the others cheek before running off to greet his guests. 

With a faint smile, Kuro watches Lance have the time of his life. The look of pure happiness on his face makes his heart swell. He deserves to be happy. 

“God, it's sickening how in love you look,” Shiro gags, drawing Kuro out of his daze. 

Love, he hasn't thought about it much but if he had to put into words how he feels about Lance he probably would say he loves him. 

“He loves you too, you know.” Shiro nudges him. 

“He does?” 

“Of course, I can tell by the way he looks at you.” 

Kuro sighs wistfully, “He means a lot to me. He was there for me when no one else was. I owe him my life, Shiro.” 

Shiro chuckles, wrapping his arm around his clones shoulder, “I think a date would be just fine. Your entire life seems a bit extreme.” 

Kuro hums, watching Lance enjoy himself. He can’t wait to get him alone again. To show him how much he cares for him and how much he means to him. 

The party eventually dies down, everyone needing to get back to their duties sooner or later. Thankfully the rest of the team offers to clean up, allowing Kuro and Lance to slip off to their room and have some time alone. 

“You really didn’t have to do all of that for me, Kuro,” Lance says as they step back into the privacy of their room. 

“I felt like I needed to. You really mean a lot to me, Lance.” 

Lance grins and changes into his pajamas and slips into the bed, motioning for Kuro to do the same. 

It doesn’t take long for Kuro to change and crawl into the inviting warmth. He wraps his arms tightly around Lance, pulling him as close as he can. 

“But seriously, thank you, Kuro.” 

“The smile on your face made it all worth it,” Kuro admits. 

“Ah, you sap,” Lance giggles, cuddling closer. 

“Lance?” 

He hums, closing his eyes. 

“I love you.” 

“I love you too, Kuro.” 

Kuro’s eyebrows nearly shoot off his face. He wasn’t expecting this to be so easy. 

“I really love you, so much. You’ve helped me a lot… with literally everything, especially with finding myself.” 

Lance grins, leaning up to press a soft kiss to Kuro’s lips. “You don’t have to thank me. I love you, Kuro, helping you means the world to me.”

Kuro grins, running his hands along Lance's side and pulling him in for another kiss. “I'm glad you're the one I get to make memories with.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you all for reading! You can find me on tumblr [@starboyshiro](http://starboyshiro.tumblr.com) If you like my fics and want to support me consider buying me a [coffee](http://ko-fi.com/starboyshiro)?


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